Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 6:35:05-6:37:20

Comparing Dreadnought and Columbia construction dates

Years of fabrication can precede formal keel laying, making Dreadnought and Columbia difficult to compare through ceremony dates alone.

Bae SystemsBallistic Missile SubmarinesBarrow In FurnessColumbia Class SubmarinesDreadnought Class SubmarinesNaval ProcurementSubmarine Construction
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Question

Could Britain's first Dreadnought-class SSBN commission before the first US Columbia-class boat?

Short answer

It is conceivable, because the two programs count construction milestones differently, but the available dates do not make the outcome certain.

Notes

The dates compared in the recording describe different construction events. Dreadnought's steel cutting is placed in 2016 and its formal laying down in March 2025, leaving years of fabrication before that later milestone. District of Columbia's order is placed in 2020 and its laying down in 2022. Comparing keel-laying dates alone therefore leaves out work already done on the British boat. The possibility that Dreadnought could be further advanced remains a tentative inference, with no firm prediction about which submarine will commission first.